Apparatus for sustaining telegraph-wires



(No Model.) I 2 Sheets-Sheet 1,

V H. A. CHASE. APPARATUS FOR SUSTAINING TELEGRAPH WIRES. No. 256,819. Patented Apr. 25, 1882.

u. PETERS. vmmm m w, Waihiuglon. DV 0.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

H. A. CHASE APPARATUS FOR SUSTAINING TELEGRAPH WIRES. No. 256,819, Patented Apr. 25, 1882.

II-Z22 9 5 w Z UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEO HENRY A. CHASE, OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS.

APPARATUS FOR SUSTAINING TELEGRAPH-WIRES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 256,819, dated April 25, 1882.

Application filed June 17, 1881. No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY A. CHASE, of Lynn, county of Essex, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Apparatus for Sustaining Telegraph-Wires, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification.

This invention relates to apparatus for supporting telegraph-wires and other electrical conductors, and has for its object to enable the said wires to be conducted through cities with less inconvenience than is attended with the ordinary method of mounting them on the tops of buildings, &c., my apparatus making the wires readily accessible and placing them in such position as not to interfere with the raising of laddersor apparatus employed by firemen,and providing for the safe and independent maintenance of wires for lightingthe streets by electricity.

The invention consists essentially in mountin garigid girder upon suitable supports, which v maybe placed at the edge'of the sidewalks, or

at other convenient points, and providing the said girder with suitable carriers to maintain the wires in close proximity to one another in parallel lines,the said carriers being substantially the same in construction as shown in a former application filed by me April 27 1881, and being placed sufficiently near to one another to sustain the wires with very slight sagging and under no appreciable longitudinal strain.

When electric lights are used for lighting the streets they will preferably be placed upon posts extending above the level of the girder and wires sustained thereon, and when placed in the line of the said wires will be provided with rectangular openings to receive and sup port the carriers, the lower part of the lightsustaining post then forming one of the supports for the girder and wires sustained thereon. The girder itself will be made hollow or tubular to receive the wires for maintaining the electric light or any other wires which it is desirable for the sake of safety to have separated from the wires used for ordinary telegraphic or telephonic communication. The girder will be provided with a small platform or step near each one of the carriers, and the tops of the carrierswill be surmounted by caps connected by an iron bar or tubing, which will serve as a hand-rail, the said platform and hand-rail affording a convenient support for operators repairing or replacing the wires or carriers, and a protecting-cover of light material may be supported on this hand-rail, it bein g readily removed for the purpose of obtaining access to the wires beneath.

Figure 1 is a general perspective view of the structure employed for supporting the wires and electric lamps; Fig. 2, a sectional detail thereof, showing one of the sets ofcarriers and the support for the girder; Fig. 3, a horizontal section through the carrier; Fig. 4, a similar detail, showing the construction of that portion of an electric-lamp-supporting post in which the carrier and wires are placed; and Fig. 5, a plan view thereof, the upper part of the post being shown in section.

The girder (6, upon which the wire-carriers and their wires are sustained, is preferably made of two sheets,2 3, of wrought-iron, rolled, as shown in Fig. 2, to form a tubular or U- shaped top, a, with a deep flange, a secured, as shown, in a suitable socket in the top of the supporting-posts I), placed at suitable i11- tervals to properly sustain the girder a, which has bolted or riveted upon it from point to point the carrier-supporting heads 0, provided with guide-bars cl, (see Figs. 2 and 3,) upon which are mounted the independent carrierpieces 0, provided with notches 4, to receive the wires, substantially as in a former application filed by me April 27, 1881, the said guidebars being in this instance dovetail-shaped in cross-section and placed between the pairs of adjacent carrier portions (3, which are provided with dovetail grooves to pass over the said bars d.

The wire-receiving notches 4 in the carrierpieces 0 are not shown in Figs. 1 and 3, as they are on so small a scale; but they will be the same as in my former application, and buttons may be used, as therein shown, to retain the wires in place.

The carriers are each surmounted by a cap, 1, which may be fastened, as by bolts, to one or more of the carrier guide-bars d, fixed upon the carrier-head c, and is provided with a socket, g, for a bar, h, traversing the space between the carriers and serving as a handrail or support for the operator engaged in working upon the wires or to sustain a coverin g or roof, which may be made of sheet metal and properly secured thereon. When electriclight posts j are employed, as shown in Fig. 1, they will be made with a rectangular openframed portion, 70, just above the point where the girder a passes into the said post, as shown in Fig. 4, the said frame supporting the carriers e and being of sufficient height to permit them to be removed longitudinally.

At the bottom of the upper part, j, of the light-post is a yoke, l, firmly connected with the lower portion by belts 112. (See Fig. 4..)

The hollow upper portion, a, of the girder will receive the wires n, employed for the electric lights or for conducting other currents of such intensity as to make it dangerous to mingle them with the wires on the carriers 0, employed for ordinary purposes of communication. The said tubular portion a is provided with a continuous series of covers, 0, (see Figs. 3 and 4,) hinged thereon, so that they may be readily turned aside when it is desired to ob-' tain access to the wires 12. in the girder.

When wires have been laid in the street or sidewalk, as described in my former application herein before referred to, and as shown at A, Fig. 1, they may be transferred to the carriers mounted upon the girder, as shown in my present invention through the lower portion, j, of the light-post, carriers 6, similar to those before described, being provided therein for the wires passing vertically through the said post.

The flange portion a of the girder is provided with brackets 19, which may be made to serve as steps or platforms near to the carrierhead 0, as shown in Fig. 1, or may be connected by a longitudinal strip, r, (shown in section in Fig. 4,) forming a continuous platform along beside the wires supported on a girder, upon which an operator can stand at any point to connect or otherwise work upon the wires.

The wires, when supported as herein described, will be in such position that ladders raised by firemen for the purpose of extinguishing fires in the upper parts of buildings will easily pass outside of the said wires, which will not interfere with the operation of firemen; but in some instances, especially where the sidewalks are wide, there will be space for the ladder inside the said wires, between them and the building, the wires being in such instances placed higher than shown, if necessary, for the purpose of leaving more room for the operations of firemen on the said ladders.

It is well known that a horizontal beam or girder supported at its ends has its upper portion subject to forces of compression and its under portion subject to forces of tension, and that in constructing metallic girders the metal is disposed in upper and lower members properly proportioned to resist the strains brought upon them. When the material employed is wrought-iron, if the upper and lower members of the girder contain equal amounts of metal, the upper member will first succumb when the girder is overloaded, owing to the fact that wrought-iron has less power to resist strains of compression than it has to resist tensile strains. It is also well known that a tubular or hollow column affords the best distribution of material to resist strains of compression. It follows that making the girder, as herein shown, with its compression member substantially tubular affords great strength in proportion to the amount of material employed, and at the same time provides a convenient conduit for the wires.

I claim- 1. The herein-describedapparatus for supporting electric conductors, consisting of a girder and supporting-posts therefor, combined witha series ofcarrier-supporting heads mounted upon the said girder and movable wirecarriers thereon, substantially as described.

2. The girder provided with a tubular portion to receix e electric conductors and supportin g-posts therefor, combined with a series of wire-carriers upon the said girder, whereby conductors for currents of dangerous intensity may be kept separate from those used for ordinary purposes of communication, substantially as described.

3. The girder having its compression member made tubular and provided with a longitudinal opening to receive electric conductors within it, combined with a continuous series of removable covers to close the said opening, substantially as described.

a. The girder and supports therefor and wire-carriers mounted thereon, combined with the socketed caps for the said carriers and the railing extendedlongitndinally between them, substantially as and for the purpose described.

5. The girder and wire-carriers thereon, combined with the brackets or platforms fixed upon the said girder, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

6. The electric-light-supporting posts and frame-like opening therein, combined with the girder supported upon the said post below the said opening and wire-carriers in the said opening and upon the said girder, substantially as described.

7. The dovetail-shaped carrier guide-bars and carrier pieces provided with dovetail grooves to engage and slide longitudinally upon the said bars, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

HENRY A. CHASE.

Witnesses:

J os. P. LIVERMORE, B. J. NoYEs.

IIO 

